Monday, April 9, 2012

Random Inspiration with FunMistress Shellie Neumeier

Mark Twain once told a reporter he loved taking notes during dinner parties.
Notes not of business ventures, directions, or financial advice, but of stories,
gossip, and banter. From real life came Twain's inspiration. I think we'd have
gotten along famously.

I write young adult and tween fiction because those are the people I spend
most of my time with. I listen to their conversations as I chauffeur them from
practice to games to friends' houses. Their lives become animated in the
stories they tell of their school days and overnights. If that isn't enough to
inspire the most fantastical fiction, their imaginations are. Simply asking a
ten year old what type of adventure they'd like to take or what world would
they make, brings setting and plot inspiration in heaps.

Of course there's nothing like people watching to add creativity to one's
characters. Last summer I spent four hours with a girl, no older than twenty,
maybe twenty-two, as she tattooed my ankle. (That's a tale for another
telling.) She talked about her gruff grandfather, a former naval officer, who
thought colored tattoos where not of the same caliber as the old greenish ones.
Her voice softened as she spoke of her mother and quickened when she mentioned
her boyfriend. And the lack of any fatherly stories spoke volumes. She became
the inspiration for a dystopian heroine in my current work in progress.

If all else fails, there's always the grocery store. So many characters, so
many products with their miracle cures and what-if invoking promises that it
would be hard not to find inspiration for someone, something, some adventure
within. So where do I find the inspiration for my fiction? By watching and
listening and asking questions. Or as my husband would say, "No one and
nothing is safe from [my] writing."

1. What’s been a favorite work
experience you’ve had so far in life?

Hands down, meeting other authors is
the best experience writing has provided. Not only have I been able to rub
elbows with folks I viewed as “writing rock stars,” but I’ve learned that
authors are some of the quirkiest, sweetest, funniest, strangest people you’d
ever love to meet. There’s never a dull conversation when talking to authors!

2. If you could do anything you
want, what would it be?

Ooooh, anything?? Can I live at the
spa and have other people clean my house while I read great works of literature
(or chick lit, depends on the day)? No, wait. On second thought I’d rather
spend a week on an island with my family and friends. How cool would that be,
to bask in the sun, explore island cities, and play in the turquoise waters.
Yup, that’s what I’d want to do.

3. What’s the most exotic place
you’ve traveled?

Exotic might be an interesting
adjective to describe Poland, but it is the most foreign community I ever
visited. Especially considering the timing of my visit. The Iron Curtain held
firm and stretched its shadow across the Polish borders. Everything from the
people to the weather seemed grey and saddened.

4. What do you see outside the
closest window right now?

The trees in my front yard are
swaying in the breeze while two brown birds (type unknown) skitter through the
overgrown grass. If I watch long enough, my neighbor’s dog will bounce about
their front lawn. She’s a boxer and never seems to run or walk. She bounces.

5. What do you tell people when they
ask “and what do you do?”

I tell them I’m a cashier at
Walgreens. I am. I used to tell them I write, but that statement seemed to
complicate things. They’d tell me about their latest writing projects or how
their Aunt Bertha wrote a memoir and wants to get it published, did I know
anyone who could help her **winks.** Sometimes they’d get super impressed and
ask me what I’d written and where they could find copies. That was cool, until
they got to know me better and discovered I’m like everyone else. No need to be
super impressed. Now I save the “I’m an author” for some time deeper in our
conversation or relationship. Seems to fit better that way.

6. Where’s your favorite place to
grocery shop?

Hmm, favorite place would have to be
the farmer’s markets. Doesn’t matter where, as long as it’s fresh. Veggies
never tasted so good, you know. Oh and the fresh cheese and baked goods, yum.
Wow, thanks Lisa, now I’m hungry and it’s March! J.

7. What, to you, is worship?

I’d love to have an amazing answer
here, but worship to me is pretty simple. To me, worship is giving myself
completely to God. Whether that’s singing, ministry, cashiering, motherhood,
wifedom, it’s all in there as long as I’m doing it for God.

The Wishing Ring (book one in the Adventures of Cory and Ally), published by MuseItYoung, ASIN: B0073UHRM4Buy it on AmazonThe King’s Seal (book two), published by MuseItYoungTo be released 12/2012 Other books by Shellie:Driven,a YA supernatural book from Risen Booksavailable from Amazonand A Summer in Oakville, a romance, from BlackLyon Publishingavailable from Amazon

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Lisa gives me a LOT of grace when I visit:D. As for the farmer's market on an island...that would be a challenge. Guess you'll have to come visit sometime:). As for the tattoo...:D